Atalanta vs SPAL 10/02/19

10 February 2019

Two sides with quite opposing destinies on papers are set to face-off at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia as an in-form Atalanta tackle a tough SPAL team. While the visitors surprisingly chase the Champions League promotion, the visitors hope to avoid the Serie A relegation.

Having racked up a five-game Serie A lossless run (W3, D2), the hosts are now just three points away from the fourth-place, and considering their performance over the past few months, it seems they have real chance to end up qualifying for the Champions League. However, Atalanta’s potential problem could be their indifferent home form (W4, D3, L3), especially as they’ve played out two straight home draws ahead of this meeting. Surprisingly, but the Goddess have scored just 37.5% of their goals at home, averaging 1.8 goals scored per match in Bergamo. Another potential issue concerns their inability to keep a clean sheet that has seen them conceding in six of ten SA home clashes. Still, Gian Piero Gasperini appears to be on his way of solving Atalanta’s defensive crisis, as his team kept four clean slates in their last five games across all competitions.

On the other hand, stationed five points above the relegation zone, the visitors hope to stretch a three-game SA lossless run (W1, D2), going after back-to-back Serie A road wins for the first time this season. The Biancazzurri come into this meeting having managed to bring a five-game SA road winless run to an end (D1, L4) after a 3-2 away triumph over Parma last time out. However, Leonardo Semplici’s men have lost all four road clashes with the top-six SA teams, conceding nine goals while scoring just two in the process. Furthermore, it will be a daunting prospect for SPAL’s fragile defense to hold the rampant Atalanta considering they’ve failed to keep a clean sheet on 9 of 11 SA road trips this term.

Provisional line-up – Atalanta:

Gk: Berisha Defense: Palomino – Djimsiti – Rafael Toloi – Castagne – Hateboer Midfield: De Roon – Pasalic – Freuler Attack: Papu Gomez – Duvan Zapata

Provisional line-up – SPAL:

Gk: Viviano Defense: Cionek – Bonifazi – Simic – Lazzari Midfield: Kurtic – Missiroli – Valoti – Filippo Costa Attack: Antenucci – Paloschi